The Wiltshire builder at the centre of a bitter planning row has attracted national media attention after installing a 'gargoyle' doppelganger of the council leader on the side of a former takeaway.
Michael Thomas hit the headlines this week after the Wiltshire Times reported he had carved a grotesque likeness in stone of Trowbridge councillor Stewart Palmen.
Mr Thomas is trying to convert a former pizza takeaway at 12 Newtown, Trowbridge, into a house of multiple occupancy in defiance of a Wiltshire Council enforcement notice.
The 71-year-old, from Staverton, says the reaction to his unusual protest has been “much bigger” than he expected.
“It is only a five-minute wonder," he said. "I didn’t quite expect to go that national."
“The point is that it is doing exactly what I wanted. Everybody is talking about me and it is the talking that’s important. If people are talking, they are listening.”
Mr Thomas has given interviews to BBC News, including BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine programme.
He has also received widespread coverage in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Express, Mirror, The Sun and the Metro among others.
Mr Thomas targeted Cllr Palmen for the grotesque, claiming he had “encouraged” locals to object to his planning applications to convert 12 Newtown into a HMO with seven rooms spread over three floors.
For his part, the Lib Dem council leader has taken the grotesque with good humour, saying he’s “quite proud” to have been immortalised in carved stone for all to see.
“I have taken it in good spirit," he said. "I have made sure I am wearing my hat in all the pictures so that when the next election comes along people know who I am.“It was interesting hearing Mr Thomas being interviewed for the first time because I have never met him.
“He seems to be quite a character, if a bit eccentric. He has made a few bad mistakes. They also interviewed the sculptor who put it together and that was quite fascinating. It will be interesting to see what happens with the court case.”
Mr Thomas faces an appearance at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Friday, October 27 to face a charge of failing to comply with Wiltshire Council’s enforcement notice.
He intends to plead not guilty, claiming he has found a defence against the charge.
The council slapped the notice on him in September 2020, after he carried on working without planning permission.
The council had issued a temporary notice demanding he stop work on the property, following objections from Cllr Palmen and 25 local residents. This was later superseded by the enforcement notice.
Wiltshire Council planners refused the scheme in June 2022, saying: “the proposed development by virtue of its bulk, mass, scale, elevational design and roofline represents an unacceptable form of development …. that detracts from the character and appearance of the area.”
Mr Thomas appealed the decision, but his appeal was dismissed by a planning inspector in May this year.
He then launched a one-man protest at the council’s stance, claiming they were “no longer facilitators of planning policy but enforcers of planning law”.
He fixed a protest banner to scaffolding at the property but since June appears to have altered his original designs.
He is now converting it into five rooms spread over two floors and has vowed to carry on working until it is complete.
Cllr Nick Botterill, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for strategic planning, said: “As there is an ongoing enforcement case against Mr Thomas, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”
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